Grease Pole

If I remember correctly, Assamese poet Ajit Barua used this imagery to describe his life: A grease pole where you climb once and slip twice. And you continue. Eternally.

This is my life. An eternal climb on the greasy pole. On a good day I climb one step, on a bad one, I slip twice. Then the bad day passes and I climb up again, and then the bad day returns and I slip.

So, after several permutations and combinations, I’m at the same place. Neither here nor there. At the same mid-point. Always.

Why don’t I just quit. I cannot. This is the only life I know, I can live. I am scared of other imaginary lives. And I don’t have the strength or talent to stay put there and not slip. and slip I do.

This is the myth Sisyphus, the man from the Greek mythology, who was condemned to repeat forever the same meaningless task of pushing a boulder up a mountain, only to see it roll down again.

I think I should listen to Camus, who wrote in his famous essay: “The struggle itself...is enough to fill a man’s heart. One must imagine Sisyphus happy.”

I must imagine I am happy.

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Greasy pole or grease pole refers to a pole that has been made slippery and thus difficult to grip. More specifically, it is the name of several events that involve staying on, climbing up, walking over or otherwise traversing such a pole. This kind of event exist in several variations around the world. More Here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Greasy_pole

The Myth of Sisyphus is a philosophical essay by Albert Camus. It comprises about 120 pages and was published originally in 1942 in French as Le Mythe de Sisyphe; the English translation by Justin O'Brien followed in 1955. More Here. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Myth_of_Sisyphus